A special education legal resource discussing case law, news, practical advocacy advice, and developments in state and federal laws, statutes and regulations. Postings include insight and sometimes humor from Charles P. Fox, a Chicago, Illinois attorney who is also a parent of child with special needs, and other guest authors. Email: [email protected]

March 23, 2007

Well finally something to get excited about. Senators Mikulski and Sanders have proposed a bill that would increase funding for IDEA by over $44 billion dollars over 5 years with an increase of $10 billion in 2008. Now that is something to rally around and press for Congressional approval. OK now, Barack, Hillary, Rudy, John, and Mitt where do you stand on this issue of IDEA funding and no fudging please !

It has been readily apparent to me that special education has not been the drain on the school systems that administrators and the media claim. Finally there is a data-driven research paper from the conservative Hoover Institute that bears out the facts of the costs for special education. The results are startling only in that the data finally drives a stake in the heart of the anecdotal and fantastic claims that special education and parents of children with special needs are ruining the education system for "the rest of us." The bottom line conclusion that I draw from this report is that there is a core prejudice and bias against children with special needs that has not been overcome in the generation that IDEA has been in existence. The media and lobby groups for schools tend to perpetuate ugly myths to the detriment of students with special needs. Well, here is the data to fight the unfounded claims once and for all.

March 21, 2007

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill ("NAMI") has published a national survey ranking the funding of mental health systems in the 50 states. The results are sobering:

"NAMI presents this first comprehensive state-by-state analysis of mental health care systems in 15 years. Every U.S. state has been scored on 39 specific criteria resulting in an overall grade and four sub-category grades for each state. The national average grade is D. Five states receive grades in the B range. Eight receive Fs. None received As. "

Each of the rankings includes urgent action statements needed in your state, My great state of Illinois received a grade of F and ranked 44th for suicides and near the bottom in per capita spending. This kind of data should be used as a basis for a legislative agenda. In the special education arena, hearing officers should be made aware of this stark lack of services making it that much more urgent that students receive as much as possible through their IEPs to address mental health issues. No hearing officer or for that matter school personnel should have the false impression that "out there" services are well funded and available. This survey shows that is abundantly not the case.

March 20, 2007

I am so often left shaking my head when I finish reading a due process or court decision that completely missed the boat. Hearing officers and judges go through gyrations to justify the school's actions and omissions while children with special needs have been denied even a semblance of an education. Many of the cases that go to hearing and to court spotlight the really ugly failings of the special education system in this country. I am left wondering for a framework and a context to understand why all the hand wringing and intellectual distortions to support the basic fact that the school district has failed the child. It is difficult for many to see the school as a big part of the problem and it is far easier to blame the child.

Well finally, a recent piece from Dan Rodricks of the Baltimore Sun, has helped me come to some understanding of why society does not rise up and demand more of the special education system, denouncing: unemployment rates for the disabled that are close to 50%, dropout rates among high schoolers with special needs that hover around 33%, that our jails are overcrowded with adults (and children) who are the outcasts of the system, and the masses of children who matriculate through the system and receive no instruction or no effective instruction in reading and other core subjects. The following article deserves to be read and re-read and discussed widely. [Thank you to Sue Keller for sending it to me.]

March 19, 2007

The FDA has approved a new fast test that distinguishes between viral and bacterial meningitis. In my experience, many students with special needs have less developed immune systems, and therefore may be more vulnerable to serious infections of this nature which seem to hit schools with some regularity. The importance of this new test

"Knowing whether the meningitis is viral or bacterial is imperative to early effective treatment. But distinguishing between the two types of infection is difficult because of similar symptoms. Patients with viral meningitis usually recover within two weeks without any medical intervention. Bacterial meningitis, however, can lead to brain damage, hearing loss and even death if not treated properly."

It would be advisable to inquire if your doctor or local hosptial has access to this new test.

March 13, 2007

Transition planning is the hot topic these days under IDEA 2004. For the obvious reason that the emphasis under IDEA 2004 is meaningful life outcomes in the real world. In Illinois, the State Performance Plan [each state is mandated to have a SPP] ("SPP"), which is the state's targeted goals for collecting data and monitoring progress over time required under IDEA 2004 [I think of it as the State's IEP for itself] has a goal in the area of transition which incorporates a comprehensive report from NASET. This report covers numerous aspects of transition planning and is downloadable for free. It details the need for research-based means of reaching transition goals, defines key categories of goals, emphasizes the need for positive behavioral interventions to stem the flood of special education students who are dropping out (roughly 1/3), the need for collaboration with parents and students in the process.

March 12, 2007

There was a recent medical lecture in Alberta Canada on research which indicates that eating wholesome and nutritious foods can have profound effects on children and adults with ADHD. This link contains a video clip from the lecture.

March 10, 2007

A Chicago couple with an adult son with autism has been fighting for years to continue using electro-shock, as a means of behavioral modification. The parents, Fran and Robert Bernstein, claimed that a jolt from a cattle prod applied to their son has a calming effect. The Hot Shot Power Mite is capable of delivering 4500 volts of electricity. Electric shocks of much lesser intensity can have severe physical and emotional effects and can be fatal. I know that this couple believes they know what they are doing and it is for their son's best interests, but the reality is that severe injury or death could result, albeit accidentally.

March 08, 2007

This week we had our annual review for our son's IEP meeting. It was not just any meeting, this meeting was his "articulation" meeting to high school. After 11 years in the special education system, we had reached the milestone of moving to high school and in our case going to a new district.

The theme of the meeting for us was to establish, in an indelible way, that high school is about setting the stage for what comes next, establishing the necessary linkages and natural supports in the community, teaching the skills and self advocacy to go on to college and beyond. It may be a tall order but we have at least 5 years to get there. To make the point I did 2 primary things at the meeting: one, I presented 2 input statements [Download Cole Fox's input_3607.doc , Download Cole Needs Accommodations.doc ]
and, two, was to present an ensemble of my daughter's doll furniture, showing a boy lying in bed watching television. The narration for this ensemble was that when my son gets out of high school he can not be the boy in the bed with nothing to do day after day but watch television. This unorthodox approach certainly got their attention, made the main point and created a memorable moment that no one in the room will soon forget.

March 02, 2007

If life’s a journey, then the school years are the longest collection of toll roads. And as our day to ante up gets closer, I decided to take a calmer, gentler, more centered approach toward our child’s IEP and use meditation techniques and a zen state of mind to help get through it harmoniously. Here are just a few of my affirmations.